Fed's Lacker: Jobless rate not good policy target

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve should not use the unemployment rate to guide markets about when it will eventually hike interest rates, said Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker on Friday."A single indicator cannot provide a complete picture of labor market conditions," Lacker said. Instead, the Fed should describe "in qualitative terms" the economic conditions under which the Fed would need to change monetary policy, he said. His comments were posted early Friday on the Richmond Fed's web site at the end of a "blackout period" where Fed officials typically don't comment on monetary policy close to formal meetings. The Richmond Fed president has dissented from all eight Fed policy statements this year. He repeated his view that more asset purchases by the central bank risks higher inflation and said the Fed should only buy Treasurys and not mortgage-backed securities.

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